Your data is worth less than a pack of gum

Companies pay around 45p for consumer data, according to new reports from Totally Money.

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There's a new calculator online which will tell you exactly how much your digital data is worth. This tool, created by Totally Money, asks you to name the price for 13 different data types, including email address, health condition, or credit rating. After giving your price, the calculator then tells you the real price.

The whole project was basically designed to show people just how easy and cheap it is for companies to buy your personal data. Following the release of the calculator, the company also did a survey of 1,000 UK adult consumers. Forty per cent of Facebook users, for example, didn’t know the social media giant sold their data to third parties. Out of 30 million UK Facebook users, half would leave the social network if they knew this was true. Almost two thirds (60 per cent) of those aged 18 – 24 would quit Facebook.

But the real shocker is the price – UK consumers value their email address at £983, but companies actually buy it for 5p. Men believe their browsing data is worth £1057, 29 per cent higher than women. In reality, this data costs £0.0014. Ten per cent would buy data on a friend, and would be willing to pay up to £220 for it.

On average, consumers believe their data is worth £2031. In reality, companies pay around 45p for it.